S. Korea’s president Yoon says martial law will be lifted

SEOUL: South Korea’s president Yoon Suk-yeol said Wednesday martial law would be lifted and troops withdrawn, hours after he made the shock declaration.

“Just a moment ago, there was a demand from the national assembly to lift the state of emergency, and we have withdrawn the military that was deployed for martial law operations,” Yoon said in a televised address.

“We will accept the national assembly’s request and lift the martial law through the cabinet meeting.”

In a dramatic, emergency television address to the nation, Yoon late on Tuesday night announced that he was imposing martial law, accusing the opposition of paralysing the government with “anti-state activities”.

However, 190 lawmakers managed to get in to the assembly in the early hours of Wednesday, where they unanimously voted to block the martial law declaration and call for its lifting.

Under the constitution, martial law must be lifted when a majority in parliament demands it.

Yoon gave a range of reasons to justify his announcement – South Korea’s first declaration of martial law in more than 40 years.

“To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in his earlier live televised address to the nation.

Yoon did not give details of the North’s threats, but the South remains technically at war with nuclear-armed Pyongyang.